Rockwell

I would like to see this Movie but cannot find it to stream anywhere. Any tips?

I thought it made for great dramatic conflict for Porter's girlfriend to decide to leave the territory, to get away from the turmoil she felt with him there and to settle down with someone else. So I liked it when Brigham Young interceded and helped her to see the value of Porter Rockwell. The antagonists are all portrayed pretty well, and you can't help but pull for Porter through the whole story. I really liked the music at the barn dance. The fast music makes the dance come alive - all the folks having fun after the tough trials they have gone through so far in the story. I also love the slow music at the dance as Porter and his girl pursue their courtship - it is a beautiful scene.

I like how everything is resolved by the end of the movie. Good climax.

I tried watching this tonight since I couldn't sleep. The historical inaccuracies were awful! The characters wore clothes that wouldn't be invented until the next century such as plastic buttons on shirts and metal adjusters on suspenders. The opening scene has a boom mic seen in the shot and the character is wearing an elastic collar shirt (like a t-shirt). The man playing Joseph Smith has silver hair and looks to be about 50 years old, even though Smith was killed when he was 38. The guns used in the opening scene were revolvers not invented until well after the Ciivil War. The story is okay and it is fun to see Karl Malone but I am only about halfway through it right now and I am hoping I fall asleep so I don't have to see the rest.

A reviewer here (who actually gave this movie 10 stars) pointed out what he saw as two "mistakes" which I personally don't see as mistakes.

a. Just my opinion, but he says, "Before Mary-Ann Neff is held at gun point she puts a large board across the door to lock it. Rockwell comes through the same door and the board is gone." I actually saw the board crashing away, in the shot when Rockwell crashed through her door. It looked pretty realistic to me.

b. Also is the same reviewer's complaint that Rockwell "comes up with two body-bags in the wilderness." I think the average viewer can surmise pretty easily that he BROUGHT ALONG the body bags, and didn't find them in the wilderness. Why waste film footage showing Rockwell putting body bags into his saddlebag before hunting outlaws? I guess he could have, but it seems to me that would have been a waste of footage.

I liked what I saw.

I wasn't expecting much from this low budget film but was looking forward to it all the same. It could have gone either the folklore route or historical route and been incredibly interesting if done at least half-way decent. That is where this goes all wrong. It did nothing except show a guy dressed up as him trying to make tough, thoughtful facial expressions.

None of the scenes are personal in any way. There is a guy with a name. Girls have crushes on him. He falls in love with a pretty girl with a pretty dress. We are shown that there are historical characters who were in history. There are shady guys who feel the need to shift shady glances constantly each time they mention the Mormons' property. People shoot at him and he shoots them. Carl Malone is there. All of the time spent tying in a narrator feels convoluted and does nothing to provide insight into the title character.

I really don't see how it was possible to write such horrible script and direct such a horrible film when there is so much material to write it off and so many effective, straight-forward methods of telling the story. For instance, the first scene shows some kid's parents get shot. He goes to Joseph Smith's house and sees Rockwell there. Now we know he was a friend of Smith, and we are later told they were friends from childhood. Why not just open by showing Rockwell trying to bust Joseph out of prison? Later we see a reenactment of Smith's assassination, who has been introduced but not developed. This tells us nothing about Rockwell. Also it was hard to not get distracted by the comic mob noises. By now you're getting the idea.

Now throw in stale dance scene to give Carl Malone some time on stage. Others have mentioned the play scene. By now we feel like we're being deliberately insulted.

The only saving grace, of which there is little, are the scenes and quotes that made Rockwell a legend. The ear collector scene was solid enough. The problem is that at least 80% of the film should be like that, but we get less than 10%.

Conclusion: If you have a Mormon grandpa, go camping with him and he'll spin a good Porter Rockwell yarn or two. If you don't, find a good book on him. I'm sure some day there will be an amazing film, too, but this ain't it.